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Bradley Patterson: Anti-Obama Tweet During Sunday Night Football Gets Division II Football Player Kicked Off Team

Bradley Patterson will likely regret the anti-Obama tweet he sent in anger after the president’s speech pre-empted part of Sunday Night Football.

President Obama’s made remarks Sunday night at the memorial for victims of Friday’s school shooting in Connecticut, but this drew the ire of many football fans on Twitter when Sunday Night Football was pre-empted.

As Deadspin noted, Obama’s speech at the Sandy Hook shooting memorial took over the airways, causing NFL fans to miss the first quarter of the game between the New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers. This brought a hate-filled and often racist backlash on Twitter as several angry fans demanded that Obama be taken off their screens and football brought back.

The report found a number of tweets bashing the president personally, often using racist and vaguely threatening language.

One of the tweets appears to be very costly. A twitter user who goes by the name Bradley Patterson made the remark: “Take that n****r off the tv, we wanna watch football.”

Bradley Patterson is a walk-on long snapper for the Division II University of North Alabama football team, Al.com reported. Immediately after Patterson’s racist anti-Obama tweet, those who read the Deadspin article forwarded it to the school’s athletic department.

As it stands, hatred does rear its ugly head & there will be ugliness coming from some areas. To all, this tragedy should bring all together, my arms are open even to those who oppose me on various issues. Mr. Patterson will HOPEFULLY regret his tweet, if not, well, his toast HAS been buttered.

It's lame when people cry "censorship" when it's not like Patterson was arrested by the police or the military. Playing college football was a *privilege*, not a right. And he should have been smart enough to know that certain boundaries come with these privileges

You don't understand the concept of freedom of speech. It means that people can say what is on their mind without fear of imprisonment. It doesn't mean that they can say what is on their mind without fear of consequence.

Wow those idiots did not know that the game was on MSNBC and NBC Sports so you could switch to the game? I am a huge NFL football fan, who wanted the 49ers to win for my Broncos, but what happened happened to be addressed and shown. Disgrace for anyone who acted this way over a damned football game. Disgrace and shame as this school shooting is one of the worst we ever had. Shame on those bigoted angry fans.

what a sad country we live in when ya cant voice your opinion about a pathetic president that's in charge of the greatest country ever without repercussions, america is turning into a sad country I think obama is gay and likes to love his pets alil to much , ugh -oh! where should I hife? for voicing my opinion? should I be scared for repercussions? or should I just shut-up? or should I quit my job before in fired?

David Brown ,what the f did u just say? it means what re-read what u wrote ,makes no sense ya twat in america freedom of speech means i can say obama sux cock or he has sex with dogs and no one can do shit about it except close their fukn ears u loser

people are idiots I'm the biggest patriots fan ever haven't missed a game since the 90's I put the game on nbcsports on one tv shut the volume off and just watch our president morn with us. there are more important things than sports.

he never lost his freedom of speech i dont think he was arrested thats what he is protected for. but dont expect not to be fired from a public place or backlash. he can say what ever he wants and not get arrested. but u cant expect to keep ur job if ur a racist

Not bad Osama, you did another good job of upsetting this country while working to make our country like yours. Lets see what country was that?, oh yeah KENYA. Have a wonderful day everyone, except OSAMA. Thank you for working toward breaking this country down, I think you are going to suckceed.

when your cable goes bad, your forced to watch regular TV. When your forced to watch TV, your game is interrupted by a Presidential speech. When you hear the speech, you get angry. When you get angry, you make a racist tweet. When you make a racist tweet, the whole world knows about it. When the whole world knows about it, your team finds out. When they find out, you get kicked off the football team. Don't get kicked off the football team, get Direct TV.

if obama's remarks were sincerely made…………….o.k., but I believe he just found another way to get his mug on t.v. during what he knew would be a very captive audience, and to be politicing on the backs of those poor souls is disgusting. he was sincere sounding in n.j. saying we will do all possible to help..check with those people and how those promises worked out.

The 1st only protects u from jail not work. Most jobs have moral codes and ethical codes. In private sector u can be fired for being raciest. Think about all the other players that have to work with this guy especially the black players. I have more right to work in a hate free work place than he can voice his backwards opinion. He should be fired and labeled a raciest. U can say what u want without going to jail but don't expect to have no backlash.

I'm confused Ted he got arrested for it I don't think so. Moral codes at work have nothing to do with the 1st. What about my freedom of working in a hateful work place. He will never be arrested for saying raciest things but don't expect to keep a job in the public sector

Ur an idiot but ur remarks are less harmful than the guy who said that. Wow bringing the country together to morn is so unamerican. I remember a time we respected the office even if it wasn't our candidate that won

Just punishment for so one so insensitive that he thinks part of a football game is more important than a memorial service for a mass killing of 6 year olds. Not to mention the fact that obviously this SCUMBAG is nothing more than a RACIST PUNK!

Shane. Do America a favor and leave the country. It is bigots like you who make the world such a terrible place. Wether you like it or not your president is brown. get over it and stop burning crosses.

Just goes to show, as Americans we are losing our rights, freedom of speech, GUN RIGHTS are probly next. Americans are blind to what the governments goals are, its not for the better good of the peolple!

As bad as that is, and is so bleeping awful, there is worse.
The lunatics from Christian Fundamentalist – Westboro Baptist Church are going to protests the funerals of those poor children murdered in Newtown Conn – saying that god sent the murderer to kill the children.

this is wrong let a white person say something about a n#gg#r and all hell breaks loose, but let one kill someone and hes welcomed on the sidelines of the cowboys bench, funny how everyone forgets that or the mall shooting in Oregon, Everyone acts like this is the first time amything like this has happened.Remember Columbine, Co, All the media attention this stuff gets makes teens with no life think that this kind of stuff is glorious and a great way to comit suiside.Don't blame guns but ban all these stupid games like Far Cry, Borderlands, splinter cell, Metal Gear, Sniper Elite, asassins creed and all those Metal of Honor games and Grnad theft Auto games on even have a rampage mode where you see how many people you can kill in a set time.That's where thesse ideas of mass shootings come from not from gun sales.Obama makes a scene and acts all concerned well if he was then he would start a process to ban all these types of vide games because in my opinion that's where all these crazy ideas are born.

this is wrong let a white person say something about a black guy and all hell breaks loose, but let one kill someone and hes welcomed on the sidelines of the cowboys bench, funny how everyone forgets that or the mall shooting in Oregon when the next bad thing happens, Everyone acts like this is the first time amything like this has happened.Remember Columbine, Co years ago, All the media attention this stuff gets makes teens with no life think that this kind of stuff is glorious and a great way to comit suiside.Don't blame guns but ban all these stupid games like Far Cry, Borderlands, splinter cell, Metal Gear, Sniper Elite, asassins creed and all those Metal of Honor games and Grnad theft Auto games on even have a rampage mode where you see how many people you can kill in a set time.That's where thesse ideas of mass shootings come from not from gun sales.Obama makes a scene and acts all concerned well if he was then he would start a process to ban all these types of vide games because in my opinion that's where all these crazy ideas are born.Enough said about these horrible events now everyone move on and let the families move on that lost, think about how you would feel if you was in there shoes and everytime you turned on a computer, tv, radio or opened a newspaper you had to see this garbage gutter news.

At what point was Patterson's right to free speech violated? It wasn't. He's still allowed to say whatever he wants. But this notion that actions do not have consequences smacks of a wrongheaded sense of entitlement…and a serious misinterpretation of Freedom of Speech. Patterson can say whatever he wants. But that doesn't mean the university for whom he plays football has to allow him to continue playing football for them. What he said and did was wrong. Whatever happened to accountability?

Your statement makes no sense. The president spoke on Friday afternoon about the events in Newtown and then he spoke at a public memorial service on Sunday night. Blaming the president for the memorial service doesn't make any sense. He did what any president would've and should've done.

The networks warned everyone watch that the game would be interrupted by the president's speech. The network also gave people the option to watch the game on another station. I opted to watch the president. Laziness, cheapness or unabashed hatred led to people being upset that they had to take a few moments from their self-centered lives. Shame on all those who found the president's interruption a problem.

You do realize that kid would still have a walk-on gig with that program had he not dropped the n-bomb, don't you? That's where he screwed up. He can voice his opinion. He can still voice his opinion. But that doesn't mean the football program has to allow him to continue representing them; especially if he's making racist, offensive remarks. This is no one's fault but Bradley Patterson's. Keep the blame where it belongs: the person who dropped the n-bomb.

And oh yeah, he won't get arrested for saying it. So his right to Freedom of Speech remains fully intact.

freedom of speech does not include hate or hurtful speech… that is called libel and/or detrimental to the well being of its citizens… read the constitution first before you start regurgitating what others say… you gotta be some kind of repub…

again… read the constitution before you start regurgitating what others say… freedom of speech does not include hateful or hurtful speech.. that's called libel and/or detrimental to its citizens… man… white people.

From your comment alone, obvious show you don't know what the hell you are talking about. Where were you these past few days about the coverage of the shooting? Weren't the flags in your city/town at half staff for this? That idiot was able to express his 1st amendment right, but as @peter dasilva has stated many times to ignoramuses like you, he was not arrested, But its a RIGHT to play football at his school, so if the school does not tolerate blatant hate, they have the right to rid him of the team! He is still able to walk around and express what ever hate he wants, he is just not a player for a Division II Football team (yay BTW)… I do hope the hate you have in your heart some day will go away, bc there it sucks being a bigot!

Some of these comments goes to show that, OBVIOUSLY some folks do not understand what the 1st amendment means… Yes he DID express his Right to say what he wanted, but that does not mean that an organization will tolerate/condone his bigot views! Was he arrested? no! He is still walking around, FREELY by the way, being able to say what he want. But the University also has a right to terminate any player that does not abide by there code of ethics on or off the field. I played sports all through out high school and some year in college, and you are told that as a student and player, you represent that school, so you could face consequences if you did something they felt was unethical. I just love how racist try to use the 1st amendment as a way to spew there racist BS and think they won't face consequences… CHECK MATE for the people to know and LOVE their constitution!

Dear Dumb@ss Damien. His right to freedom of speech has not been abridged. He has not been arrested. He is not under investigation by any arm of government. Our Constitution provides protection FROM GOVERNMENT. It does not and never has meant that you can't be fired for what you say, kicked off the team for what you say, ridiculed by the public for what you say, etc.

While the comment was stupid and insensitive this country used to have the freedom of speech that covered not only what people wanted to hear but especially what people didn't want to hear. so apparently we've already lost the freedom of speech soon the right to bare arms how many more rights are to torn asunder?

I think it is high time that people realize that all the hateful language put out on the internet is not harmless, especially to the author. If not your current boss, then a future one may not hire you because he finds what you've been saying to be repulsive.

I cannot imagine that he had much of a future on that team given the number of black players that just might take exception to his derogatory comments. How could he be so stupid as to make such a comment?

Exactly right, but what were obama's priorities? He was turning it into a promotion for himself, that's the problem. If he's going to talk about tragedies, then he needs to talk about all of them, not just the big publicity ones. It was sickening, he turned a horrible situation into a chance for him to promote himself. That was the issue. Disgusting!

The President will always be wrong in the eyes of a person like you. I may not have be 100% happy with the way he governs, but at that moment the NATION (yes I said the nation) needed him to address this ONE issue! 19-20 CHILDREN died Friday! It would have been VERY distasteful for him to address ANYTHING else besides what happened in Newport!

There will never be a President that is 100% respected. I don't know how many of you can pump your chests and boast proudly about being Americans. Yet, disrespect your Presidentso vehemently. One thing for sure. If you're unable to control sharing your thoughts and opinions. You can not be trusted.

Damien's a moron…he is free to speak so far as the U.S. govt. is concerned. And the U.S govt. has done nothing to him. All the groups, clubs and institutions he joins after that, however, are free to decide who their members are. Have someone tell you they will rape and murder your kid or your mom and then see if you still think ALL speech is free.

Serves him right. I don't know how people can be so disrespectful towards such a tragic event. He will have to live with his comment for the rest of his life since he likely ruined his chance at a career in the NFL.

He shoulf be contacting an attorney. This is clearly a free speech violation. If the left wing media like David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey or Bill Maher can get away with sexism and racial slurs so should Bradley Patterson.

Welcome to Obama's communist America Freedom of speech will be one of the first freedoms he will abolish as soon as he is anointed king. I believe the founding fathers said it best-I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it. You may want to write that down because not too long from now that will no longer be allowed in text books.

What happened to freedom of speech? Is it OK if your black making these comments? ESPN analyst being black made offensive remarks about RG3 and he is still working. If a white commentator said this, he would have been fired. Who is the real racist here?

I understand that things are messed up and the loss is great. He has the right to freedom of speech just like the rest of us. Doesn't make it right but he has a point why would anyone really want to hear anything Obama has to say.

Kicked off the team for freedom of speech even though the tweet was stupid, Just what obama wants the distruction of the bill of rights. obama is a joke, his speech was so fake. All obama cares about is the money big insurence companies pay him. The first president to NOT have an approval rating a week after the election. obama is a liar and a joke of a leader.

Lazaro DadeCounty Rios .. No offense intended but, if it was your children or children you knew, would you feel the same? This really needs everyone's attention NOW before it happens again in a town near you or perhaps your own town. Football can wait.

peter, he wasn't at work he was on a team,and you can work were ever you please, but he does have the right to be an ass hole , even if its not appropriate. he wasn't inciting a riot or putting people in danger, .

Everyone is sad about the tragedy at Newtown. If you're a liberal/progressive, ask yourself, how you can be so upset with this tragedy while at the same time you are completely comfortable with abortion. The only difference between abortion and this tragedy is 6 or 7 years.

Yes I did and I am very happy to see the school moved quickly and cut his dumb racist butt!! There were MANY tweets and disgusting racial comments directed toward Mr Obama because his speech interrupted the game for about 8 minutes.

I wanted to watch that game, too….but I was trying to switch between it and Obama's speech. Then they put it on Network and it preemted the first quarter. The game was really only a distraction from what most of us were feeling. Too bad ignorant racists can't see past their own bullshit. It's only football.

personally I thought that "W" was the most stupid president that I've ever seen…but after 9/11 when he went to ground zero, put his arm around the fireman and said the small speech that he said I stood up and applauded. He was OUR president…ALL of us at that moment. I believe that people just hate and they will never get past that. Too bad. They missed a brilliant, heart warming speech that the good people of Newtown and a lot of the rest of us needed to hear by a very compassionate and understanding man.

Perfect Example of the Problem! Disgusting, Low people that place No Value on the Lives of Others. Little Children at that. And to top it off, make Vulgar, Depraved insults against the duly elected President of the United States of America. I really, really, really hate to say it after this Tragedy, but "these people" are perfect examples of why a lot of Citizens feel they need guns. Reason, Logic and appeals to Brotherhood would not stop Monsters like these.

I find it disturbing that the 1st amendment, constitutional rights & civil liberties are being trampled on everyday with the use social network sites, people are allowed to have their opinion in this country whether or not you agree with them, I find it more disturbing than the senseless slaughter of innocent children, which is an atrocity beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these rights are so easily dismissed just because it is posted on the internet, we still have the right to free speech in this country, quit letting idiots take our freedoms away, wake up!

Everyone has the right to fell what they feel, But you when tweet or facebook a comment apparently you want someone to see how you feel. If the comment is considered negative, then expect some fallback! Its that simple!

Donald W. Grab, what's sad is you just read the article and not all the tweets. There were BLACKS that used the word as well and no that didn't make it any better. Clean out your mind and stop throwing everyone into one category! I cannot stand the word, NOT that I have to explain to your ignorant self.

Lazaro DadeCounty Rios Plenty of time? Their lives were cut short and they have no more time. No more time to watch football. No more time to play football. You survived not being able to watch ONE quarter of football. NONE of them survived. You should seriously consider getting your priorities straight. I have a feeling that is going to be quite the task for you and all of Dade County.

Bart McGonnigal If you work in an at-will state and the organization thinks you have disenfranchised their customer base then yes they may let you go because you are an agent representing their organization. There is no guarantee that you can show back up to work tomorrow especially if you may cost the organization business.

who cares what obama said, it was ronald regan who cut the budget for places for the people like the wac-o to get help, killed the kids and the dumb ass mother who let him use of the guns. not locked in a gun safe? why not?

There are far more people in this country concerned about The Sandy Hook Tragedy than an individual Football Game. This is the same Male dominated Macho mentality that we as a Nation have tolerated for so long that has kept us from enacting the level of Gun Control needed in this country. Now there are more people actively concerned about controling Guns than there are in the "Old Gaurd" ( those for Gun Ownership ) This last election should have sent a message to the old Male dominated mostly republican faction that the times they are a Changin, The new Voice must include Females
and other minority Groups perspectives and opinions and because of this there are more people concerned about the Masacre in Newtown Connecticut than a Sunday Night Football Game.

The loss of life doesn't matter too much to people unless it is their own. I agree with Elaine, some priorities are very disturbing. But worse, it seems to be spreading. More people really don't care about loss of life. We have become a greedy, uncaring, unthinking, self absorbed country. We have lost the empathy we used to exhibit. People now make jokes when someone is killed, or lampoon the death based on politics. It is very sad, but very disturbing indeed.

What did you just write. I understood the first sentence then everything else was written in kindergarten language. Wtf is your statement other than you hate Obama. The article was about him interrupting football and the dummy who ranted about it. You went on about some other dumb stuff about the President being gay, which is ignorant. The idiot who ranted does have a right to rant, however since he belongs to an organized football team that comes with its own set of ethical codes, then yes he should have been booted from the team. Apparently you know nothing about organized sports and how ugly words can get you kicked off or at the least suspended.

When your cable goes bad, your forced to watch regular TV. When your forced to watch TV, your game is interrupted by a Presidential speech. When you hear the speech, you get angry. When you get angry, you make a racist tweet. When you make a racist tweet, the whole world knows about it. When the whole world knows about it, your team finds out. When they find out, you get kicked off the football team. Don't get kicked off the football team, get Direct TV.

See, these are two of the problems with Amerikkka….Guns & Sports. That's why this continent is a laughing stock. To many trigger happy-gun toten-beer guzzling-banchees…all they care about is their beer, sports and guns. And kicking aholes like Patterson of the team is to easy. He should have a better punishment then that just like so many others who disrespect President Obama. The countries already in mourning and here comes this ahole. SMH.

Obviously, the university's administration hasn't heard about a little document called the FIRST AMENDMENT–which, in kicking the guy off the team, this upstanding bastion of academic excelence has EGREGIOUSLY and UNAMBIGUOUSLY VIOLATED.

(For the record–while I'm not a football fan)…the whole nonsense of "pre-empting" programming to broadcast hot air from politicians is almost too absurd for comment. I mean, Fuckin' A–these goddamned memorials, "candlelight vigils"–all this horseshit–gimme' a fuckin' break! What a load of steaming HORSE SHIT!